Automatic file-holder



(No Model.)

B THOMSON AUTOMATIC-FILE HOLDER.

Patented May 23, 1893 Inventor:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT THOMSON, OF TENNALLYTOVN, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

AUTOMATIC FILE-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 497,993, dated May 23, 1893.

Application filed 0ctober 17, 1892.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT THOMSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Tennallytown, in the District of Columbia, have invented an Automatic File-Holder, being an instrument for the convenient and orderly holding of files or folded papers which may be undergoing examination or other handling upon the desks of clerks, accountants and others, of which the following is a specification. The same mechanism maybe used to advantage, in a more substantial and ornamental form, for holding neatly and conveniently together, volumes of books for ready reference upon parlor or office tables.

The following is a specification of the device, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l. is a general view. Fig. 2. is a side elevation, and Fig. 3. is a bottom view of the piece of mechanism.

Similar letters refer to similar parts.

A is an upright panel fixed by a block or back support, 0, at one end of a base, D E.

D E is a platform or base with a slot f g, running lengthwise and centrally from one to the other end of the base.

B is an upright movable panel, opposed to the fixed panel, A, and travels from one end of the slot,f g, to the other, to and fro, in a vertical position transverse to the slot. Panel B is supported at its back by an arm h is, which is fastened at its upper end, 71, to the panel and extends downward obliquely into the slot at its lower end, It, so as to guide the panel in its movement along the slot. The arm, h it, carries a pair of small wheels Q R, fixed on an axle transverse to the arm, so that the wheels, bearing the weight and downward pressure of the panel, B, run along the slot, one on each side of it, upon the upper surface of the base D E. The lower end of the panel, B, is cut into a tongue or T head, T, which extends downward through the slot and carries a pair of small wheels, 0 P, Fig. 3, on an axle fixed transversely to the slot, beneath the base, so that the wheels, 0 P, bearing the upward pressure of the panel, B,

Serial No. 449.181. (No model.)

run along the slot, one on each side of it,

upon the lower surface of the base, D E. The movable panel, B, is actuated by an elastic connection, an elastic band, M N, for which a metallic spiral spring or other equivalent may be substituted, attached to the end of the device which bears the fixed panel, A, passing within the slot through an opening in the tongue or T head at the lower end of the movable panel B, and fastened to the lower end of the arm h, It, at 70. The connecting band or springmay be otherwise attached, one end to each panel, or one end to the movable panel and the other end to the device near the fixed panel, with, however, less available length and elasticity in the means of connection.

The files, folded papers, or books, are laid on their side edges transversely across the slot and base and are held between the two panels securely by the tension of the elastic band or spring. The files or papers may be inserted separately and singly, in order, at the end next to the fixed panel A, the upper corner of which at S is beveled or sloped olf so as to facilitate the insertion of the paper, between the panel, A, and the file next to it.

The tongue, T, at the lower end of the panel B, is made long enough to let the lower edge of the panel rise clear of the base, D E, as the movable panel is raised by the pressure of the files against it, so that the panel in its proper movement along the slot, has no points of contact with the base except the wheels above the base and the wheels under it. Thus friction and binding between the movable panel and the base are obviated.

Instead of the wheels,'O P, below the base, a simple T head may be substituted, extending downward and through the slot at T, with a cross bar below the slot, resisting the upward pressure of the panel, B, Without much friction, and for most purposes, this has been found satisfactory.

The base, D E, which may be formed of two pieces with the slot between them, or of a single piece with the slot cut in it, is supported and strengthened by two transverse bars U and V, one at each end of the base, so

that the base is sufficiently elevated to allow the lower pair of wheels, or T head substitute, to play freely beneath it.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A file holder having a fixed and a movable panel mounted upon a common base, the movable panel operated by a horizontal elastic connection, such as an elastic band or. metal spring, joining the movable panel to that part of the device upon which the fixed panel is mounted, said elastic connection being located intermediate between the panels, the tendency and special function of which elastic connection is to draw the movable panel toward the fixed panel, substantially as shown and described.

2. A file holder with a fixed panel and a movable panel having an elastic connection placed horizontally between them, the tendency and special function of which elastic connection is to draw the movable panel toward the fixed panel, substantially as shown and described.

3. A file holder consisting of a fixed panel, a base upon which the fixed panel is located and an upright panel, moving along the base and mounted on Wheels, substantially as shown and described.

4:. A file holder having a fixed and a movable panel, mounted on a common base, wheels connected to the movable paneLrunning above the base and means below the base operating with said wheels to keep the movable panel in position, substantially as shown and described.

5. A file holder with movable panel, mounted on two pairs of wheels, opposed to each other, one pair above and one pair beneath the base on which the panel runs, substantially as shown and described.

6. In a file holder the combination of a movable panel, mounted on wheels with an elastic connection, the tendency and special function of which elastic connection is to draw the movable panel toward the fixedpanel, substantially as shown and described.

7. In a file holder the combination of a movable panel, running in a slotted base, with means of retaining the movable panel in position and a horizontal elastic connection, located intermediate between the movable panel and the fixed panel, the tendency and'special function of which elastic connection is to draw the movable panel toward the fixed panel, substantially as shown and described.

8. A file holder consisting of the slotted base, E, the fixed panel, A, and movable panel, B, having a tongue, T, which carries a pair of wheels 0, P, on an axle fixed transversely to the base said movable panel, also provided with a supporting arm which extends into the base and is provided with a pair of wheels Q, R, adapted to travel along the upper surface of said base, substantially as shown and described.

9. In a file holder the combination of movable panel on wheels and running in a slot, with an elastic connection substantially as shown and described.

ROB'I. THOMSON.

WVitnesses:

J. F. BENNETT, W. J. STAFFORD. 

